Growing up, my mom worked extremely hard in order to financially provide for my small family. Now that I’m an adult, I appreciate the long hours she worked at the factory so that she could afford to buy food and clothes for my sister and me. Unfortunately, due to my mom’s work schedule, my sister and I were forced to stay at relatives’ homes after school each day. Because we stayed at so many different people’s homes, our bus driver always got confused about the location he needed to drop us off at. On this blog, I hope you will discover the benefits of leaving your kids at a safe daycare facility each day. Enjoy!
As a child transitions from their toddler years into school-age years, it can be hard for many parents to send their child to school for the first time. For many hours in the day, the child is away from home and this can bring on feelings of anxiety. To help with the transition process and still give your child the many benefits of preschool, you can volunteer in the classroom. Instead of just hanging around the class, it will be beneficial to the teacher, your child, and other learning students if you can provide a useful experience for your volunteer visits.
Once your child is enrolled in preschool, there are four different ways you can become an effective volunteer. Each of these methods can help you transition easily and still enjoy time with your child as they grow.
Reading Days
One of the easiest ways to volunteer in the preschool class is to offer a special reading day. During this time you will sit in front of the class and read a book aloud to them. This book can be something from your childhood, a special book that your child picked out, or a book with a theme that applies to the current curriculum. For example many preschool classes focus on basic number counting. You can read a book that features various number counting and recognition images. This type of book is great for an interactive reading experience. Reading for a classroom is typically a short time period that allows you to see your child without spending too much time in the classroom.
Snack Visits
The first few years of school is a great time to build up a nutritional base and proper eating habits for your child. It's important for children to learn about healthy foods and you can help spread this education through a variety of special snack volunteer days in the classroom. During snack time, you can set can set up a volunteer visit where you bring in a healthy snack for the whole class. Along with providing the snack, you can explain the nutritional benefits and different variations on the snack that the child can enjoy at home. When volunteering for this type of visit, it's important to work with the teacher to help determine any food allergies that are present in the classroom. This allows you to prepare snacks that all of the kids can enjoy. Snack time is also a casual time in the class, allowing you to speak with your child and find out about their day.
Field Trip Chaperone Opportunities
A lot of times, preschool classes will plan experiences outside of the classroom and embark on a variety of field trips. This is a great time to volunteer as multiple parents are often needed to chaperone the kids and keep things organized on a field trip day. Not only can you get more time with your child, but you can share experiences together. Field trips may include visits to farms, museums, or plays catered towards young children. By attending the field trip, you can interact with your child and also see how they socialize and get along with other children in the classroom.
Valuable Learning
As a volunteer in the preschool classroom, you want to contribute to the class and make your presence feel important. By planning small speeches or presentations, you can take personal experience to help teach the children. One way of doing this is by talking about your career. Learning about future jobs and careers is important in the early years. During a classroom visit you can talk about your job, different aspects, and the training you had to complete to get the job. You can also talk about a special hobby that you may have. For example, if you collect coins, you can explain how the hobby works, bring in some sample coins, and talk about the fun ways that you collect them.
With a little planning, you can effectively volunteer in a classroom and help with your won transition as you get used to the idea of your child attending preschool and growing older.
Share19 April 2016
